Mum questions if she should shave her 6-year-old daughter's legs and back
2 October 2018, 11:13 | Updated: 2 October 2018, 12:06
The six-year-old girl is starting to feel self conscious about the dark hair on her legs and lower back.
A mum is facing a difficult parenting situation after her six-year-old daughter asked for her to have her leg hair removed.
Posting to mumsnet for advice, the worried woman explained that while her youngster isn't being bullied about her dark hair, it's knocking her self-esteem.
The mum wrote: "A big part of me knows this is ridiculous but there's another part that wants DD [dear daughter] to make her own choices."
"Dd has just turned 6. She has and always has had very hairy legs & a hairy lower back.
"In the summer she became aware of it & that the other girls at school didn't have the same.
"I have to point out here that nobody else has mentioned it, classmates etc, it's DD herself that has the issue she isn't being picked on or anything because of it.
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"However...she's now getting upset about swimming & not wanting to go because she says when her legs get wet it looks worse. The hairs [are] quite long so when it gets wet & lays flat she is right in what she's saying.
"There's no way I would use hair removal cream on her skin & certainly wouldn't let her attempt anything herself but part of me thinks if she's adamant she wants it removing I should help her to do so.
"AIBU [Am I being unreasonable] ? No bitchy comments please, I do realise she's very young but just want to do my best to help her."
Her post was met with a variety of encouraging comments from other sympathetic parents, with most suggesting that she should help her daughter remove her leg hair.
One wrote: "I'd let her remove it. It's horrible feeling self conscious about something and not being able to change it.
Another commented: "What about trying a sensitive hair removing cream? My daughter has been using it for years and she is 15 now."
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A third suggested doctor's advice, writing: "I wonder if it would be worth a trip to the doctors to see if there is anything that can be done.
"I had similar as a young child, very hairy legs from age 5 ish and I went through puberty early from the age of 8. I was never taken to the doctor about this but it was not easy for me to cope with at that age."
Many others mumsnet users were quick to express that they had experienced a similar scenario as a child and had wished that their parents had been more open to doing something about it.
